She mused for a few moments as if struggling with a thought. "I read of them findin' a new star," she said, "and I wondered if it wan't the speret of some good man or woman that hed passed away from down here an' gone up there."
"If that were true," he replied, coming forward and putting his hands on the table, gazing into her eyes—"if that were true and I should find a new star brighter than all the rest, I would call it—Lou."
She straightened up. "You must be careful how you talk to me because I might not know how to act. When folks would hide things they must talk like in a book, and I can't do that. But do you think if I was to read books I could be smart?"
"I have begun to think that books don't make so much difference after all. It's the soul that makes people great."
"There's hardly any way for a woman to be great," she said. "All I can hope for is not to be foolish."
"You couldn't be foolish. You might make a man foolish, but you—"
"Oh, how could I make anybody foolish?" she cried, and leaving the table she stood leaning upon the back of a rocking chair.
"How long have you known Mr. Peters?" he inquired and he appeared to be embarrassed.
"All my life."
"Is he game?"